Alberta’s Oil Sands Advisory Group is recommending a series of escalating measures including financial penalties and potentially halting projects to ensure greenhouse gas emissions from the oilsands remain within a mandated 100-megatonne limit.
Alberta Environment Minister Shannon Phillips said Friday the advisory group recommendations aim to encourage reductions in emissions before the industry reaches the cap.
“There’s really a package of proposals here to improve our performance, and that’s exactly what we are looking to do,” Phillips said.
“So yes, the cap is a safety net, but not necessary a relevant determination because we have done our work in advance of reaching it.”
The Alberta government said it will review the non-binding recommendations and begin stakeholder consultations, with an aim to pass the rules into law next year.
As a first step, the report recommends immediate steps that will reduce future emissions including using better technology, setting out emissions plans and costs, and improved regulations.
As oilsands emissions hit 80 and 90 megatonnes, the report recommended reviews of the system and how facilities might be affected as emissions approach the cap.
It also suggested establishing annual and 10-year forecasts, with more reviews triggered when the cap is expected to be hit in five years.
The oilsands industry currently emits about 70 megatonnes of greenhouse gases, but based on exceptions to the cap, the number is closer to 60 megatonnes, said advisory group co-chair Dave Collyer.
Those exemptions include the electricity portion of co-generation, as well as experimental and enhanced recovery operations, while subjecting upgraders that started after 2015 to a separate 10 megatonne cap.
The recommendations do, however, have penalties for when and if the industry does approach the cap. Those including forcing those with higher-than-average emissions intensity to reduce emissions or face financial penalties proposed at $200 a tonne of carbon, while the government could suspend projects that haven’t started construction.
Collyer said that while the plan does penalize higher emitters, it’s just part of where the world is headed.
“People have to accept that in the world we’re likely to be in, carbon intensity matters. And if you’re on the wrong part of the carbon curve, you’re going to be disadvantaged. It’s the same way as being on the wrong part of the cost curve.”
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